As Texas Tech's strength and conditioning coach, Joe Walker has put in place the Red Raiders' new emphasis on speed and lower-body strength.

And the Red Raiders don't merely talk about legs.

"They're sore all the time,'' nose tackle Colby Whitlock said. "Especially when coach (Joe) Walker first came in. There was three weeks walking around with sore legs. Just some of the different drills and different lifts and techniques we did were really emphasizing our legs and were really something.''

Tuberville places a premium on speed. In putting together his first Red Raiders staff, he called on Walker, a strength and conditioning coach with whom he shares similar beliefs and with whom he had worked before. Walker, a 2002 graduate of Lock Haven, worked at Auburn from January 2003 through May 2005 and again from February 2007 until he was hired by Tech at the end of January.

Bennie Wylie, the Red Raiders' strength and conditioning coach the last five years, took a similar job at Tennessee. Walker replaced him and brought a shift in training techniques.

"It's not more running, but it's more agility and speed work,'' running back Harrison Jeffers said. "With Bennie, it was more endurance. But with coach Walker, it's more about speed, quick change-over, how quick you can get out of your cuts, how quick you can do everything else on the move and how you can think while you're on the move.''

During Wylie's tenure, one of the Red Raiders' hallmarks was massive offensive linemen. Some, such as Rylan Reed and Louis Vasquez, shattered program records in the bench press.

As for which coach's routine is more strenuous, offensive lineman LaAdrian Waddle said, "I wouldn't say they're harder than each other. They're just different. It's just a different kind of workout.''

Players say during the off-season they lifted more heavy weight with fewer reps at a time. They also changed the order of lifting and running.

"With Bennie, we ran after we lifted,'' Jeffers said. "Now we're running before we lift, which kind of helps, because if you're tired while you're lifting, you get stronger. It's different. I basically like it. You get strong in the lower body and everything else.''

The Tech media relations staff said Walker is declining interview requests until after spring practice.

But players didn't mind speaking for him.

"He's really awesome,'' Whitlock said. "He's really good at what he does. After a few more weeks with him and a whole summer with him, I think you'll be able to tell a huge difference on the field.''

One place Red Raiders might soon be able to notice a huge difference is at the waistlines of their offensive linemen. Deveric Gallington has dropped from 354 pounds during the 2009 season to his current weight 325. Waddle dropped from 367 after the season to 337 at the moment. Mickey Okafor has gone from 345 after the season to 318.

Waddle said one new twist with Walker is the linemen keeping and turning in food-consumption logs each week during the off-season.

Gallington, a sophomore getting first-team snaps at guard this spring, said his slimdown started before Walker's arrival.

"I have to say most of it (came when) coach Wylie was here,'' Gallington said, "because he started us right after the season. We did cardio twice a day. Coach Walker came in; he kept it up, too.''

When spring practice started last week, the Raiders finished workouts with plenty of running.

"We'll do that every day, almost every day,'' Tuberville said, "and then we'll do it as we go along in the season. We've got a long way to go to have a chance to get to the championship game and win it. But it's not just in the football part. It's in conditioning and running and lifting.''